Sleep Well Bro
by hannahtranter16
Summary: A big brother's job is to take care of his younger siblings, to put their needs before you're own. At least that what it is to Leo. But even he is not invincible. When fatigue takes a hold of the young teen, it's up to his brothers to spring a surprise to help him finally settle down and get some well earned rest.


**That was a lot quicker to write than my last story! Mainly because I had the time to write it :) With no university to study for yet and nothing to do, although hopefully I might be getting a placement, I've had a lot more time too write :)**

 **I got a keyboard for my iPad yesterday and I wrote most of the story on it. It's absolutely epic! :D I'm sad, but I don't care :)**

 **Like I said before, this isn't a part of the series I've been writing, but rather set in season 2. I'm not sure where, but at least after the 'Fungus Humungous' episode. It's a basic premise of Leo overworking himself and his brothers helping him to relax.**

 **I would just like take this opportunity to thank everyone for the support you've given me with these stories :)**

 **Anyway enjoy :)**

 **Disclaimer - I do not own TMNT, Nickelodeon do. I only own the story.**

* * *

"Yame" Master Splinter ordered, watching as his four sons disengaged from their sparring.

Raph smirked at his sparring partner who was squirming in his grasp. The youngest of the four was relieved when he heard the signal to stop, Raph had him in a headlock again and was taking perhaps too much pleasure in his pleas for mercy.

Donnie had fared much better in this session than usual. Although he'd still lost to his eldest brother, it had only been at the last minute when he'd made the mistake to dodge left instead of right, giving the blue cladded turtle an opening to strike just as their Sensei had called out to stop. He was even still standing on his feet, having been able to correct his balance with his Bö staff.

The four kneeled in front of their Sensei, Raph letting Mikey drop to the floor in an undignified heap and then smirking as the youngest stuck his tongue out.

"You all did very well my sons," The rat master smiled softly at the pleased looks on their faces.

"Raphael you would do well not to excessively revel in your victory, lest your opponent find a way to turn the odds in their favour," Raph pouted, but otherwise bowed his head in acceptance.

"Michelangelo you need to work further on your concentration. Raphael would not have been able to corner you had you been focussed on his moves," Mikey whined about trying to distract his brother with his ramblings, but Splinter merely reminded him that while distraction was a key tool in the ninjas arsenal, that did not excuse a lapse in concentration. He still needed to be fully alert to his opponents next moves.

"Donatello you fared well today. You evaded and successfully parried many of your brother's strikes. However you cannot rely on a set routine. You must adapt to the situation at hand. It was this that led you to dodge in a way that left yourself open,"

"I thought Leo would lunge like he always does, but I understand Sensei. I need to stop over thinking,"

"A challenge it may be, but in time you will learn," Donnie smiled and bowed.

"Leonardo you were off today my son. Your attacks were sloppy near the end and you missed various opportunities to sway the battle in your favour," Leo's head was already partially bowed, his eyes downcast, "Is everything alright my son?"

"Hai Sensei," he replied, raising his head to meet his father's eyes. Splinter frowned and raised a brow, dissatisfied with the answer.

"Really Sensei, I'm fine," He tried to smile reassuringly, but it didn't quite meet his eyes. Nevertheless Splinter dismissed his sons from practice until that evening.

The four brothers took up their usual activities after morning practice. Raph went into his room and brought back Spike to feed him breakfast. Mikey jumped onto the sofa and grabbed the TV remote, flicking through the channels until he settled on a cartoon. Donnie retrieved his laptop from his lab and sat on the floor, his shell leaning against the sofa near the youngest. Leo, having missed his morning mediation after a long night assisting Don with one is his projects, bid his brothers goodbye and disappeared into his room.

It was only when they could faintly smell the sweet scent of Leo's favourite incense that the three huddled together to talk.

"You guys noticed too right?" Raph asked his younger brothers, concern lacing his voice, "There's definitely something off with Leo,"

"I concur," Donnie agreed, he slipped his laptop onto the floor and pointed to each finger as spoke, "First he doesn't do his morning meditation, then he..."

"Doesn't completely mop the floor with you," Raph offered, a playful smirk on his lips.

Don huffed, but otherwise continued, "Yes and have you noticed how he looks?"

"Yeah man he looks real tired," Mikey replied, "He was really slow going to his room,"

"And he normally has the quickest reactions of us all," Raph commented, earning a short-lived protest from the youngest, quelled by a sharp glare from the red cladded turtle.

"What can we do?" the youngest asked, bouncing in his spot on the floor, his endless energy determined to help their eldest brother for a change.

The two looked to their resident doctor who was deep in thought. He had determined from the symptoms that their blue banded brother was most likely suffering from basic sleep deprivation. Raph scoffed, he was sick and tired of their leader driving himself towards the point of collapse, but didn't miss the opportunity to call out his immediate younger on doing exactly the same.

"Hey, I haven't pulled an unhealthy all nighter for days!"

"Makes a change," mumbled the red banded turtle. Mikey chuckled, using a hand to try and muffle the noise so as not to disturb the eldest brother's meditation.

"Anyway," Donnie said hotly, steering the conversation back to its origin, "Leo's not going to just take it easy if we tell him to, he's too stubborn for that,"

"We could always force him to rest," Raph suggested, cracking his knuckles in anticipation.

"Not cool dude," Mikey said.

"Well it's a bit unorthodox, but may be necessary," Don reasoned.

Sky blue eyes widened, "You actually agree with Raph?!"

"Well in principle maybe, but certainly not in execution,"

"Well then what do you suggest Brainiac?"

There was a pause as Donnie considered the possibilities. The most obvious thing to do was to get Leo to rest somehow, preferably by sleeping, but trying to convince him was another matter entirely. They could trick him, but he knew that the eldest wouldn't take kindly to that. Besides, how do you trick someone into resting without making it obvious?

There was the option of using a sedative, but he liked to keep those in reserve for emergencies, since they were, like most of their more sophisticated medical supplies, hard to come by once depleted. Although admittedly since the turtles had met April, and even Casey to an extent, life had become relatively easier.

Eventually Mikey spoke up, "What about just asking him?" Both his brothers scoffed at that idea. But the youngest didn't like the idea of forcing anyone to do anything. It went against his go-with-the-flow nature.

"We could always lock him in his room and not let him out 'til he's rested," Raph interjected, green eyes already fixed on the door to the eldest's room.

"I'm sure he'd probably kick it down, and then I'd have to fix it," Donnie shook his head, dismissing the idea, "No we'll have to be more discreet,"

Mikey crossed his legs and with his head in one hand, face screwed up in thought. His sky blue eyes lighting up when another idea formed, "Ooh! Why don't we use our ninja training, Master Splinter always says that 'Deception is a powerful tool'," The youngest did one of his impression of their Sensei, stroking an imaginary goatee.

Raph and Don shared an amazed look, "That's actually not a bad idea," Don admitted.

"You always underestimate me dude," But the smile never left his freckled face, ecstatic to have pleased his brothers.

"But how to do it?" Don pondered the question for a few minutes, his brothers doing the same.

Clicking his fingers, the purple banded brother knew what to do, whispering his ideas to his brothers to make doubly sure that Leo wouldn't hear them. The two nodded and they set about getting everything ready.

The first thing they had to do was divert Leo's attention. While they knew he would meditate for at least another hour, they wanted him distracted for the remainder of the day so the could spring their surprise late afternoon. To that effect, Donnie texted April and Casey, asking them to come down. He got a reply immediately saying they were on their way.

When Leo emerged from his room, still moving rather sluggishly Don noted, they had yet to arrive, so Donnie collared him before he could say a word.

"Hey Leo, how was your meditation?" While not an unusual question, it still caught the eldest off guard and he blinked owlishly for a moment before mumbling that it was fine.

Close up Donnie could see the redness in Leo's dark blue eyes, an indication he'd been rubbing them in an effort to rid himself of the fatigue he was no doubt experiencing. A wave of guilt washed over him. The last few nights Leo had been helping him with repairs around the lair that had generally lasted into the early hours of the morning, as well as a good portion of the day, and Leo had always made Don go to bed first, so he had no idea how late Leo was going to sleep.

"Listen April wants to do some extra training so she was wondering if you could take her on a training run?"

"Er yeah sure, did she text you or?"

"Yeah she's been talking about it for a while now and since you're the most advanced in training I thought you'd be the best one to give her pointers," It wasn't a complete lie. April had been asking Donnie if she would be able to go on a training run with the turtles so she could catch up and maybe impress Splinter a bit, but it was supposed to be with all four of them.

While Leo was distracted getting a glass of water from the kitchen, Donnie quickly texted April to explain what he wanted her to do with Leo and to try and keep him out of the lair for at least a couple of hours. She texted back saying that she and Casey were nearly there and that she would follow his instructions. Don smiled, everything was on track.

The teens had just arrived when Leo came out of the kitchen. He greeted them with a smile, fist bumping Casey and giving April a sideways hug. Casey began chatting to the turtle about where he thought would be a good spot to do some training away from prying eyes while April took Donnie aside.

"Are you sure he's up to this, he looks exhausted,"

"I know, that's why we want him out for now. We've got a plan to help him get some rest, but we need time to implement it,"

"Say no more, we'll keep him distracted. I'll tell Casey to go easy on him,"

"To be honest the more tired he is when he gets back, the better. It'll make it easier to put him down,"

April giggled, "Sounds like he's a baby that needs a nap,"

Donnie also chuckled quietly, "Well he's that stubborn sometimes we have to treat him like one when he won't take care of himself,"

With a final snigger, the red head went to ask Leo properly about going on a training run, to which the turtle promptly agreed. They were discussing where to go and what to go over as they left the lair. Donnie waited a few minutes until they were out of earshot before calling that the coast was clear. Raph and Mikey leapt up from their spots on the sofa and the three of them set about their tasks.

While Donnie went to his lab, Raph went to their rooms to collect pillows and blankets. Although he absolutely refused to retrieve these items from Mikey's room. He hadn't cleaned it in... Well he'd never really cleaned it and the three brothers were forever finding things that really should not be there. So he left Mikey to go to his own room after he'd finished in the kitchen. Mikey stuck his tongue out at their hot-headed brother as he bounded towards the kitchen.

Starting with his room because it was the closest, the red cladded turtle pushed open the door and quickly surveyed. There wasn't much he had to help with their plan, as he wasn't one for anything soft and cuddly. Giving a brief pat to Spike's head, Raph merely grabbed his pillow and blanket from the bed and walked out again. He dumped the soft materials on the floor before going next door to Donnie's room.

The purple banded brother's room was a massive hypocritical mess. Don was forever telling Mikey to clean his own room when the genius' room was just as bad. Although Leo and Raph were more inclined to believe Don when he said that it was an organised mess. There were clumps of papers and spare parts scattered over the floor and the desk in the corner was buried to the point that you could barely see it.

Donnie had two pillows in his room and they were fluffier than his own, most likely due to the fact that when angered and alone in his room, the hot head would punch his pillow, and it had gotten to the point where it had multiple stitches keeping it together. Raph quickly grabbed Donnie's pillows and blanket, not wanting to disturb anything lest he face the genius' wrath. He'd never admit it aloud, but Don could be quite terrifying when he was angry.

Throwing the pillows and blanket next to his own, Raph walked to the room opposite Don's. He was a bit reluctant to enter Leo's room. There had been a silent agreement when they had first gotten their own rooms that they wouldn't enter without each other's permission, except for emergencies of course. Mikey never followed this rule for any of his brothers, not that they minded with the youngest, and none of them bothered when it was something important, but Raph and Leo were both private turtles and liked their own space.

Hesitantly, Raph opened his older brother's bedroom door, not at all surprised by the immaculate state. What sparse furnishings that were in Leo's room all had a place. Like Master Splinter, Leo had few belongings compared to his brothers. There was his Space Heroes comic book collection and a few figures on one of his shelves, but the rest were mainly related to Japanese culture.

There was a painting of a woman sitting by a blossom tree above his bed that always made Raph smile. Upon closer inspection you could see Leo's signature at the bottom, and while it was no Da Vinci, it wasn't bad. When Leo had been bed-ridden for a couple of weeks and had read every book he owned, Mikey had let him borrow his art supplies and taught him some basics techniques. Leo had caught on quickly and after a few doodles had asked Donnie for a picture of a blossom tree. Mikey had been impressed, though had playfully stated that he could have done better and took full credit for teaching Leo how to draw in the first place.

After painting the tree, Leo had added a woman at the bottom, dressed in a kimono and holding some flowers. Raph smiled as he remembered how excited and nervous Leo was to show their father what he'd painted. Splinter had seemed happier than he had in a long time as he recognised the women that Leo had painted as his deceased wife. It wasn't an exact likeness, for Leo wasn't that skilled, but the resemblance was there.

Shaking his head of old memories, Raph focused back on the reason he was here in the first place. He picked up the blanket of Leo's futon and then the pillow, which was again much fluffier than his own, though more worn from use than Donnie's. What caught his eye however, was the extra blanket underneath. Folded up neatly was a light blue blanket with a cute yellow duck smiling up at him.

Raph chuckled quietly. It was the blanket Leo had used as a cape when they larped. He picked it up and unfolded it, his chuckling increasing as he remembered both the larp and when Leo used the blanket as a child. He wouldn't be separated from it from they were younger and it was what Sensei called his security blanket. Raph thought he'd gotten rid of it, but that theory was of course struck down when they larped. It was cute that their fearless older brother still liked to slept with his ducky blanket, even if it was just under the pillow.

Adding the cute blanket to his load, Raph headed back out of Leo's room and went towards the lab.

In the kitchen, Mikey had been pottering around debating what to bring to make their surprise that much sweeter. Donnie had told him to bring the kettle into the lab so they would be able to make Leo's favourite tea, which also meant that he probably should bring the tea bags as well.

Reaching up to retrieve the green tea bags from one cupboard and Leo's favourite Space Heroes mug from another, Mikey set them down on the counter and then leaned against it, deep in thought. What else could he bring? Whilst he waited for ideas to strike, the orange cladded turtle bounded over to the freezer to say Hi to Ice Cream Kitty. She purred contently as he stroked her head.

"What do you think I should bring Ice Cream Kitty?" He asked her.

She mewled in response, pointing towards a cupboard on the opposite side of the kitchen. Mikey followed her lead and found where they kept various sweets. He picked up a packet of sweets that had Japanese writing on the front. The orange cladded turtle smiled, this was a treat that Leo and Splinter shared sometimes, especially when their Sensei was in the mood for something sweet.

"Perfect!" He exclaimed, "Thanks Kitty," He stroked her head and down her back one last time before bidding her goodbye and shutting the freezer door.

He went over to unplug the kettle and wound the cord around the handle to make it easier to carry. Though his smile faltered slightly. These past few nights he'd been having nightmares about the Squirrelanoids, had been on and off since the incident with the mutant mushrooms. Last night and the night before the nightmares had been so scary that he'd sought comfort in Leo like he had when they were younger. Maybe that was one of the reasons why the eldest was so tired. When he went to Leo he always found him in the hall, and upon seeing his baby brother's terrified face Leo had taken him to the kitchen for a hot chocolate and to talk about it before going to the eldest's room to snuggle down to sleep. Mikey had no idea how long Leo stayed awake, for he knew that he would wait until the youngest had fallen asleep first.

Shaking his head and planting a smile back on his face, Mikey thought not about that but rather about the surprise they were planning. He couldn't wait to spring it, in fact he was even more excited than he was before pulling a prank. Well almost. He tucked the kettle under his arm, put the tea bags in the mug to make it easier to carry and then picked up the mug and sweets.

Beaming as he walked out the kitchen, the youngest skipped over to his room to collect his blanket and pillow, putting the assortments from the kitchen down just outside his door. Raph was too much of a drama queen, his room wasn't that bad. He opened his door and looked around. Everything had a place and he knew where that was. Most of the time.

There were lots of old pizza boxes and plates and cups scattered around that he kept forgetting to take outside, but it gave his room that homely pizza smell he loved so much. The orange clad brother took a deep breath and sighed happily.

He weaved his way through all the items scattered around the floor to his bed. There he grabbed his pillow and blanket, but then spotted something that made his smile widen. His teddy bear! It was wrapped in duck-tape after the incident with Leatherhead, but was otherwise still the best cuddly toy in the world.

In fact he remembered it was Leo who found the toy first in one of their explorations of the sewer, he was always better at finding objects that were actually useful to them than he was. Often Sensei would have to gently tell him as a turtle tot that it was nice, but not quite what they were looking for. Mikey had gotten hurt during one of their rougher games, courtesy of Raph not following the rules that Leo had set up, and his eldest brother had brought him the toy to cheer him up when he was stuck in bed with a twisted ankle.

Mikey smiled and cuddled his little friend. Leo would love snuggling up with the bear, so he carefully shifted the pillow and blanket under one arm and carried his bear in the other. When he got outside he stared thoughtfully at the stuff from the kitchen and then juggled everything so he would be able to carry them without dropping anything fragile.

He saw Raph entering the lab now and with a quick glance to the entrance of the lair the orange cladded brother raced after him.

In his lab, as they thought that it would be the best place to implement their surprise, Donnie surveyed what he had to work with. There was a lot of clutter and junk just lying around and some parts had heavy machinery that he either wouldn't be able to shift alone or he didn't want to move for fear of disturbing something. There was however, a few spots that could be used if they were cleaned.

Standing by the door the scientist felt for the light switch. His hand brushed up against the multiple switches on the wall and curiously alternated between the three switches. Each switch was for a different portion of the lab and he had been known to have only one light on while he was working at night, the one situated over his desk. In fact that part of the lab would be perfect. He'd just need to move some papers and experiments and then if he kept the light off it would be a surprise.

Nodding to himself, Don set about moving all the papers on his desk either to another part of the lab or into the various drawers he had for safe keeping. He then moved any lingering spare parts of his experiments with Retro-mutagen to make sure the desk and floor surrounding it was quite clear. Not only to make it more comfortable, but the purple banded brother didn't exactly trust the youngest of the four when it came to keeping hands off his stuff.

At some point during the overhaul of this part of the lab, April had texted him to let him know that they were well away from the lair and Casey currently had the eldest brother distracted with some sparring.

 _Sounds good. How is he?_

 _Ok. Slower than usual, but still beating Casey to the ground! :)_

 _:D_

It was approaching one o'clock by the time he'd finished clearing everything important, Raph and Mikey coming in to help after they'd carefully dumped their loads onto the floor. April had been texting him every now and then since they left about two and half hours ago. Apparently they were going to Mr Murakami's for lunch now, per Casey's request, and he even got a text from Leo promising to bring some Pizza Gyoza's home for the family. Donnie wasn't sure if they were going to eat there, as it was daylight and most likely crowded, but he knew that Leo wouldn't take any risks being seen and thus wasn't worried.

After cleaning up the purple cladded turtle began hunting for a specific medical item that would be of great use to them for their surprise. He looked though all his medical supply drawers, mentally noting that he really needed to tidy some of them up, until he came across what he wanted.

"Ah there you are!" He exclaimed to himself. He pulled out the drawer that contained heat packs and emptied them out onto the floor. Normally he used them when one of them was having muscle cramps or stiffness, particularly after an unusually intense training session or if one of them had overworked themselves. In the winter, on the extremely frosty nights, they would use them to keep warm. He took about five from the pile and put the rest back. They would need to be heated up in the microwave for a couple of minutes before he could use them, but that would be fine. Once warmed up they would last for a few hours.

Don texted April one more time, telling her to let him know when Leo would be on his way back and how long it would take. That way he could warm them up before the eldest came home and place them appropriately.

"Raph! Mikey!" He called for them to come in and help set up now the lab had been cleared. They came in from whatever they had been doing and asked what he wanted them to do.

"Okay Mikey can you set up the pillows and blankets into a sort of nest?"

"Can do bro, Leo'll be so comfortable he'll never want to leave!" The youngest scampered over near the desk and started arranging.

"Raph you can help him out until I get a text off April," The red cladded turtle smirked darkly, brows waggling suggestively, causing the younger to blush, but stalked off obediently.

It wasn't long before April did indeed text to let them know that Leo was on his way home now. Don texted back a quick thank you, beckoning Raph to him.

"Okay, can you heat these up in the microwave, they take about 3 minutes,"

"On it genius," Raph said, scooping up the heat packs Don had found earlier and practically running out of the lab.

Donnie looked over to his younger brother who had spent all this time arranging and rearranging the blankets and pillows and was finally happy with it. Two of the blankets were lying on the floor, but the pillows covered most of it up, apparently Mike wanted Leo to lie on top of the fluffy pillows completely rather than just his head. The other two blankets were at the side of the makeshift nest, waiting to be used to cover their brother. Mikey's teddy bear was nestled in the pillows in a representation of what he wanted Leo to do for maximum comfort.

Raph raced back into the lab with the heat packs wrapped in a tea towel, as they were too hot to carry alone. Don thanked him before taking them and going over to the pillows. He strategically placed the five packs under the pillows so that every inch would be immersed in a soothing warmth.

He looked over to his desk to see Raph had plugged in the kettle after making sure that there was enough water in it for at least a few cups of tea. The tea bags and mug were sitting on his desk, along with the sweets Mikey had decided to bring.

The three froze when they heard the metallic chink of one of the turnstiles turning, an indication that their target had returned. They shared a look before Don whispered for them to wait here and get ready while he hurried out of the lab, flicking the light over his desk and the one next to it off so Leo wouldn't be able to see their surprise.

When Leo walked into the lair the first thing he took noticed of was how quiet it was. He looked around curiously to see the lounge was deserted, which while not unusual was still quite uncommon.

First things first was to get the leftover Pizza Gyoza's into the fridge. He'd told Donnie that he was bringing some home and was very grateful to Mr Murakami-san for making extras for his brothers. Entering the kitchen, the second thing he noticed was the missing kettle. The turtle frowned as he put the pastries in the cold. He actually wanted to make a cup of tea when he got home, but maybe Donnie had taken it to fix it again.

Walking out the kitchen he saw Don coming out of his lab.

"Hey Leo, how'd the training run go?" Donnie noticed his brother's sagging shoulders and heard the tiredness in his voice as he spoke.

"It was good, April's really starting to improve and she gave Casey a run for his money. She managed to knock him off his feet more than once,"

Don's face lit up, "Did you record it?"

Leo chuckled softly, "Sorry no, but I did bring home some gyoza. They're in the fridge,"

"Great, Mikey will surely dig into those later,"

"Speaking of Mikey, where is he, and Raph for that matter?"

"Oh they're just milling around," Leo frowned again and Don had to change the subject quickly to avoid any more questions, "Hey do you think you could help me out in the lab for a sec, I don't trust Mike and Raph with this delicate procedure,"

Trying not to show how much more exhausted he was after the training run, Leo forced a smile and nodded, "Sure,"

They walked into the lab and Leo noticed the lights were off in the majority of the lab. Not really reading anything into it, Leo turned his attention to his younger brother.

"So what's this procedure then?"

"Something I've been neglecting to take care of for a while now," Leo nodded absently, giving his eyes another quick rub before focussing his attention back to Don. He recoiled slightly when he saw the glare he was receiving.

"What?"

"You know who else has been neglecting something?" Leo blinked owlishly again, confused as to where this change of subject had come from.

"No?"

"You," The blue cladded turtle felt quite offended by that remark. He hadn't neglected anything to his knowledge. He trained every day, longer than he was supposed to, made sure to spend time with his brothers and that they were well taken care of, and even made time to spend with his Father outside their meditation.

He was about to voice all this when Don grabbed his wrist and dragged him further into the lab, his eyes frantically trying to adjust to the darkness.

"Don what..." But he didn't get to say much more as his younger brother manoeuvred him and stood in front with his hands on his hip, a stern look crossing his face.

"What have I neglected?" Donnie could hear the slight anger his the elder's voice at the accusation, but he merely crossed his arms in response.

"Yourself," He said simply and watched as Leo's face melted from a look of anger to one of confusion again.

The blue banded turtle didn't have much time to process this before he was suddenly grabbed from behind. Two pairs of hands took his arms and he yelped in surprise as he was yanked down, his legs knocked out from underneath. The landing wasn't as hard as he thought it would be, rather whatever he was lying on was actually soft and warm. Leo still struggled however, his instincts screaming at him to get free.

He had to force his eyes shut for a moment when a small light flickered on somewhere near his left. He opened them to see Raph and Mikey lying next to him, their hands still gripping his arms tightly as he struggled. Donnie had turned on his desk lamp and once he'd realised that he wasn't in any danger Leo relaxed in his brothers hold, gently prying his arms out of their grasp.

"What's going on?" he asked, genuinely curious about what they were doing.

Instead of answering, Don merely stated "You haven't been getting enough sleep," But before Leo could protest he continued, "We know you're tired Leo, don't even try to hide it,"

"Yeah just look at how slow you were in training today," Raph pointed out. Leo glared at him, "And your eyes are all red,"

"Guys I appreciate the effort you've gone to, really I do, but I'm fine," He tried to reassure them, but none of them looked convinced.

"C'mon bro, it won't hurt just lying here for a bit right?" Mikey grabbed Leo's arm and cuddled against it, trying to relax the older turtle more. But Leo gently prised him off and got up from the pile of pillows.

"I've got things to do Mikey, I can't just laze around,"

"Like what?" Raph asked angrily.

Leo faced him briefly, "Like chores and training. You said it yourself I was sloppy this morning," And with that the blue cladded brother started heading for the door.

He didn't get very far though. Mikey hopped up and flipped himself in front of the eldest, effectively cutting him off.

"Mikey," It was a warning tone, but the younger didn't care. He watched Donnie retrieve something over Leo's shoulder and stalled the elder's egress by continually blocking his way.

"Sorry bro, but this is for your own good," He gave Leo a shove and half because it was unexpected and half because he was weakened due to fatigue, Leo stumbled backwards. His legs backed into something and soon found himself seated on Donnie's swivel chair. Its owner swirled him round so he was facing the genius brother. Raph had gotten up too at some point and was standing just behind the purple banded brother, Mikey gripping the chair's back and leaning around so he could see the eldest's face.

"Leo please," the pleading tone of his pacifist brother's voice made him slump further into the chair, a bit embarrassed to be the centre of attention.

"I..." He couldn't think of anything else to say. He sighed heavily. Now that he was sitting down the full effect of the fatigue was starting to seep in. His limbs felt heavy and his brothers could see in his deep blue eyes how tired he was. Yet he still tried to fight the sleepiness, determined to get on with everything he was supposed to this afternoon.

Raph gripped his shoulder tightly when he attempted to raise himself. He was gentler than usual, but Leo was forced to remain seated. He watched Don kneel down in front of him and reach up to untie his mask, closing his eyes as the fabric fell away from his face and into his brother's hand.

"Oh Leo," Donnie exclaimed softly at the sight he saw. There were large purple bags under the elder's eyes and without the mask he could see how puffy they were as well. Already Leo's eyes were starting to droop and he shook his head in an effort to keep himself awake. Donnie cradled Leo's head in his palm when he saw this, "Don't," He commanded gently.

Looking over his shoulder to the desk, Donnie patted the elder's hand briefly before getting up to make a soothing cup of tea. Mikey put his hand on Leo's shoulders to keep him seated, but he didn't need any pressure, for it seemed the eldest had given up trying to get up.

Leo listened to the sound of the kettle boiling and fought to keep his eyes open when Mikey started kneading his tight shoulders. Raph gently caressed his cheek and Leo leaned into the touch. This was something Splinter always did when Leo was younger to help him sleep.

Donnie came back shortly with the Space Heroes mug and his brothers withdrew so Leo would be able to drink it. Leo accepted the drink happily, blowing on the warm liquid before taking a sip. He sighed contently, he'd been dying for some tea since he got back from the training run with April.

After a few sips, Leo looked at the clock on the wall behind his brothers. It was getting a bit late and he knew that he'd need to hurry to get his chores done in time for their evening training session. He handed the mug to Mikey, who was closest. Raph and Donnie had followed Leo's gaze to the clock and in that distracted moment, Leo took the opportunity to get up from the chair and try to get to the door.

Raph noticed immediately and took a hold of Leo's wrist, yanking him with enough force to make him stumble backwards. Now behind a wall of brothers, Leo tried to sidestep around them, but Raph once again caught him and ended up tackling him to the ground, the two of them landing back on the pillow pile. They grunted as they landed and Raph scrambled to get behind Leo so he could hold him down against his plastron. Leo sighed in defeat as his plastron was encircled by his immediate younger brother's arms and he just didn't have the strength to throw him off.

Donnie asked Raph to let Leo lie properly on the pillows, that way the heat from the packs would be more effective, though he didn't say the last part out loud. Raph complied, though both him and Mikey were at Leo's sides in case he tried to run again. It might be a crude way of getting him to relax, forcing Leo to do something never usually ended well, but it seemed to be working this time.

Leo closed his eyes and for the first time focussed on everything around him. The softness of the pillows was heaven to him at the moment and the heat packs created a soothing warmth that only further lulled him towards a blissful sleep.

Looking up he saw Mikey still had his mug and the younger offered it once more. Leo tried to sit up, but Raph growled warningly and his grip on his shoulder tightened.

"Let him drink his tea," Donnie said, Leo chuckling softly as he was allowed to sit up. He sipped the still warm tea until he'd finished it and Don took it away to put back on his desk.

He snuggled down into the warm pillows as Mikey resumed his massage, ridding the eldest of all the tension he stored there. Donnie sat down beside them and began rubbing his hand up and down Leo's arm, another action that always seemed to sooth him.

Leo sighed contently again, his eyes drooping, but he watched Raph turn around to grab something behind him. It was the blankets they'd set aside to cover him with and Mikey and Don withdrew so he could be covered properly.

Leo turned towards Raph as he was covered by the blankets and inched forward, nuzzling into the hot-head's plastron. Raph stiffened for a moment before relaxing himself, bringing a hand up to rub circles on his leader's shell. The red banded brother, satisfied that Leo wouldn't try to leave, stood up only to be halted by his hand being grasped. Leo whined, pulling the hot head back down beside him. For all their efforts, there was nothing that was more comforting to the blue banded turtle than snuggling with his brothers, corny as it might sound.

Mikey giggled at his eldest brother, but happily settled down next to him when Leo's gaze went to his other two younger brothers. The youngest took a hold of his teddy bear and pressed it in between him and Leo. He made the bear cuddle up to Leo and the eldest laughed softly, stroking the bear's head and then taking him into his arms at Mikey's insistence.

Donnie settled down next to Mikey, a hand reaching over to feel Leo's forehead to check if there were any other consequences of his lack of sleep. There wasn't a temperature, so he ruled out the possibility of other illnesses and smiled reassuringly at his brothers.

The blue banded brother finally settled down and closed his eyes, allowing sleep to take a hold. His brothers watched him sleep, determined that this time their leader would get a long sleep. They would explain to Sensei that he needed it and therefore should be excused from evening training. What they didn't expect was to fall asleep as well. Mikey was the first to go, as it never took long for the youngest to be able to sleep. Don was next, the late nights catching up to him even if they weren't unhealthy all nighters. Raph went not long after, when Leo turned in his sleep back towards him and the protector pulled him in for a rare embrace.

"Sleep well bro," Raph whispered, tucking his chin atop Leo's head.

That was how Splinter found them when he searched for his unusually quiet sons. It was nearly time for evening training and upon seeing they were not in the lounge he had gone on a hunt. He checked the lab first, since that was usually where Donatello was and perhaps he would know where the others were. He didn't expect to find them all in there, let alone find them all huddled together and fast asleep.

He chuckled softly, walking up to the make-shift nest and correcting a blanket that had gone crooked. Walking behind them, Splinter placed a hand on his eldest son's head, stroking it reassuringly when the turtle began to stir. Even here he could see the dark purple bags under his son's eyes and he decided to cancel evening training. He would have continued it for his other sons had he not known that this was when Leonardo was most at peace.

He kissed each of his son's heads goodnight, something he had not done in quite a few years, and walked out, leaving them to sleep.

When he checked up on them in the morning he found they had scarcely moved and were still very much soundly slumbering. Shaking his head, but still smiling, Splinter left his sons to their sleep. He would continue training once they awoke.

* * *

 **And there we go :) I've seen this done a lot so I hope this was original enough :) I'm an absolute sucker for hugs and comfort so that's why this was born :)**

 **I always imagine Leo as someone who would be comforted by just having his brothers around. Once again I didn't intend any romantic implications here, but if you want to interpret it that way then that's up to you :)**

 **With the painting Leo did, I should point out that he probably spent like hours doing it and would have done practise drawings on a separate piece of paper beforehand.**

 **I'm not sure which story I'm going to write next, but hey that way it will be a surprise :)** **  
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